AFFORDABLE Shade Tolerant Solar Panels! ShadeStopper 100w Panels Tested

[@Jasonoid]

Learn more about these special solar panels HERE: shadestopper.com/jasonoid ** Save an additional 10% off by using my DISCOUNT CODE: JASONOID ** Need basic consulting or have a solar question? Get direct contact with me HERE: asqme.com/@Jasonoid

[@twloughlin]

Very nice. I love seeing shading tolerance hitting the market. Great for travelling. Well done, sir!

[@NatureZone101]

I think it's always a good idea to have at least one shade tolerant panel. Also for anyone reading this - it says a 1 yr warranty and the 100w flex says it's waterproof - folding only water resistant.

[@philknut9573]

My property is wooded... no wonder my 100W Renogy panel is barely enough for lighting (12V) my garden shed. I watched your Series vs Parallel beginner's guide figuring I was going to add another 100W panel. I learned for my application, partly shaded, parallel would be best. After watching this I'm thinking the shadestopper is what I need. Wish they were available in a rigid panel. BTW, excellent videos.👍

[@litnoregrets7551]

Thank you for introducing me to a new product. Very interesting. Also like that you added the CIGS to the test.

[@Jasonoid]

Good to see more and more options!

[@LakeSailor321]

Man these could be super useful on my sailboat. right now I just throw 2 flex panels on top of my bimini but it often gets shaded from the mast, shrouds, lines, and all that. Thanks for the review!

[@Jasonoid]

Now that's a good use case!

[@MaRo-u1y]

Have 2 200 watt Cigs on my RV roof. They consistently put out very good wattage and they are walkable, so I don’t have to worry about breaking them (I walk on them often for roof maintenance, and the coating is very thick). I have been testing these for a year and they look new with zero issues . They have a ten year warranty and a 25 year performance warranty. So yes they cost more but I’m hoping they last longer than the cheaper panels. Also these come rolled up in a box and I don’t worry about shipping damage like with most other panels. They are easy to install and I’m going to cover the entire roof and have no issues with access. The only downside I see with the tape cigs is when they’re down, they’re down for good. For me thats a good thing and I like that U can’t even see them on my roof they are so low profile. My 2 cents.

[@Jasonoid]

Thanks for the excellent feedback and experience with the CIGs panels! That sounds like a great setup.

[@boblatkey7160]

Well if you have been walking on them expect to see the performance fall off drastically over the next couple of years. They claim otherwise but it has been proven that the micro fractures in the crystalline degrade performance pretty quickly. Just not immediately.

[@MaRo-u1y]

@@boblatkey7160 No performance loss, actually they put out over 90% most of the time. Can’t say that for most of my other panels. If they do ever loose performance they will be replaced by bougerv so I couldn’t care less. I have recently added another panel, now have 600 watts and during peak solar I’m getting 560 plus! So I’ll keep waiting for them to degrade but don’t think it’s going to happen. We are talkin bout Cig’s not the panels jason is reviewing. But thanks for ur info.

[@boblatkey7160]

@@MaRo-u1y oh! Understood, thanks!!

[@Gman-26]

Wonder if you could connect 2 BRV 100 watt panels with 1 Flex panel. All in series!

[@AdventureGearTV]

Interesting that this kind of technology has been around for a while, but finally someone has put it into a foldable panel.

[@Jasonoid]

Some panels have two or three diodes in the junction box, but never this many diodes throughout the entire panel. It's awesome!

[@NoZenith]

Thank you. I had decided on benchmarking cigs panels moving forward because my application on a tiny cargo trailer build in the midwest that would only accommodate a couple solar panels and I need best efficiency as we've a lot of lake effect cloud cover. Everything else would have to be portable. I already own 2 160 W Folding ecoflow panels that I got with my Delta 2 Max. I was watching another of your videos and I was planning on Learning to wire them in series or parallel to take advantage of both solar imputs that max out at 500 Because I understand overpaneling from another one of your videos. My thoughts were to Go for a couple 400 W panels if I could make them fit to run all the time. And then when I'm in an area where I can. Put out portable panels I could run those two Into the same input in series. So I don't overvoltage and then use the other port to plug in my smaller portable stuff for an extra little boost. If the math worked out, such as on a less sunny day where i'm perhaps getting not much over half rated output from the nearly 800 potential. If I had 260 W panels in series plugged into the other. And I was even getting half of that. I'd still be getting well over a 100 W additional input for minimal additional cost/ effort

[@RandiG63]

Hey Jason thanks for your review, kinda thought the renogy would do better. Shade stopper is great for RVers 👍

[@Jasonoid]

The Renogy solar panel represents every normal solar panel out there. BougeRV, Renogy, Rich Solar, Sunpower... None of them have diodes throughout the entire panel.

[@shelley131]

Great information Jason. I'm in the process of replacing my agm batteries to lithium in the next 18 months on my class b rv. I was thinking of replacing the solar panels as well as they are beaten up pretty bad with the Texas heat. Was wondering if the shade flex panels fold enough to make the curvature design of the Ford Transit van, tough they are not visible from the front. Was not aware that the cig panels had technology similar to the shade stopper. Regardless of what happens in the next 18 months now I am definitely replacing the solar panels for sure. Might consider buying some for the yard also as I am surrounded by trees. Thank you for your hard work and sharing your findings with us.

[@user--PM]

very nice, i would need to have this type of solar panel if i was gonna use them, as the sun moves around all morning long with the various shading elements.

[@Jasonoid]

It definitely would give you more power vs a normal solar panel. The pricing isn't too bad either!

[@OnusBones]

That's rather impressive. While I've been buying larger (200W) panels most recently, and plan to use one of your previous suggestions to get some higher wattage panels, I think for traveling it probably makes sense to have one or two of these.

[@TwoFeatherChannel]

I would go with the ShadeStopper. for my use in a offroad overland camping and limited space for traveling, a Folding Blanket style would be better. if they could make one like that.

[@jw3843]

Nice panels. For the price I would go with the flex panel. I would not mind getting the foldable one, but I just do not like the prices on them, that sale price is really good for a foldable panel that actually has diodes built in. I just do not see buying foldable ones for daily use unless you are full time in an RV or vehicle.

[@Jasonoid]

The pricing on the flex 100 is really good! They are super lightweight and perform really well!

[@LittleSpot]

I expected 30W at the 100W Halfcut. 17W is crazy low. But this many Diods is a amazing the usecase of EV Roof installations. How fast does a tree blocking my roof PV... I love this new technology ideas. 🥰 Thanks for your presentation.

[@boblatkey7160]

Rooftop solar panels have employed diodes for a couple of decades now.

[@templar1694]

Nice addition in my off grid rest house.

[@johnreeves7261]

Very nice demonstration. Having "bypass diodes" across smaller groups of cells in series is commonly done for custom solar panels made for things like solar race cars.

[@Jasonoid]

I didn't know that!

[@johnreeves7261]

@@Jasonoid Another tid bit for you, the solar cells most commonly used for satellites and such are generically known as multi-junction GaAs based solar cells. Because of the "delicacy" of the incredibly thin layers of materials used in their manufacture, they are all but required to have a bypass diode on each and every cell. The reason is because, unlike common silicon solar cells, MJ GaAs cells would suffer immediate and irreversible damage if they are exposed to minor reverse voltage. The bypass diode eliminates this reverse voltage risk.

[@MondaCandy]

Great video as usual. I have the Shade Stopper and the Cigs. Both are great panels. Will be trying the flexible one. Thanks for the discount.

[@Jasonoid]

The Flex 100 is probably my preferred option. It's lightweight and seems to be built really well. It's thicker than other flex panels I've tested.

[@johntate5284]

It is interesting that the CIGS panel maintains a higher load voltage than the silicon based panels under similar shading conditions. I wonder if they (Shade Stopper) are using germanium based bypass diodes to overcome some of the bypass voltage drop across a silicon bypass diode (0.6 V for silicon vs 0.3 V for germanium). This would be a concern when connecting several of these panels in parallel where most charge controllers will limit your current to 8 amps for voltage inputs of 13~14 volts. Even in series (or series / parallel for larger arrays), you may find that when shaded, the array drops the voltage below that 32~35 volt threshold where you actually loose even more power because the charge controller drops to a lower current limit. Thanks for another review of an innovative product! PS I hope you are going to be reviewing the upcoming EcoFlow Delta 3 Pro, which looks to eliminate all of the flaws with the Anker F3800, which is still a great product. Hopefully EcoFlow gets the price right!

[@Jasonoid]

I wasn't able to find any information on the types of diodes used in the product. That would be interesting to find out.

[@cue881-yo7kz]

Great technology! They should do very well in the market. Thanks for the test and the info.

[@Jasonoid]

I agree! Thanks for watching!

[@renyraiche-gregoire4921]

Thanks a lot for this review. I will really consider the Shade Stopper for my solar panels

[@Jasonoid]

I think I'll put a couple flex 100w panels on my cargo trailer.

[@i_LOVE_solar]

I was hoping a company would do something like this! It's more affordable than a CIGs and performs pretty decently! Excellent!

[@Jasonoid]

I like the flex panel a little more than the folding. I got better numbers out of it and it's more affordable.

[@marine1718]

I just get to know you channel and love it. Can you do budget options?

[@Jasonoid]

Like what type of item?

[@marine1718]

@@Jasonoid solar panel

[@Jasonoid]

@@marine1718 glass rigid panels are the cheapest vs flexible and folding.

[@marine1718]

@@Jasonoid te I know but I wanted folded

[@mosler302]

I have 12 Renogy 200W flexible panels. While I was trying to figure out how to best mount them in a way to be adjustable angle-wise, I just wired them all together & laid them flat on the lawn so I'd get some juice outta them. What surprised me is I was getting more wattage for a longer duration than my flat roof mounted panels that are aimed directly at the sun... at least they are at noon. So I made a mount for them on the side of my house that allows me to change their alignment with the sun, but by doing that, their output dropped. It must be because when laying flat on the ground they have more exposure to the sun for a longer time than when angled correctly, which has a higher peak, but over an 8 hour span probably has less average exposure. Does this fit with what you know?

[@TheCornucopiaProject-bd5jk]

With similar performance, the real difference between the new panels and cigs are the flexibility and the cigs output resistance to damage. At their lower price, I can see these new panels do well as permanent panels on an RV roof and the cigs in more in temporary installations. Hopefully pricing comes down soon for this style.

[@greensavant2573]

Very interesting review! As noted, the CIGS also beats every other flex panel with its incredible bend radius. I put the 200w one on my motor-home, and have to upgrade the charge controller because output is so high! Another comparison I would love to see is this new panel vs the Optivolt one that you tested. I would think that would be a true apples vs apples test! (Although I think you reviewed the 48v output Optivolt.) Now I am regretting buying two of the Renogy (private labeled by HQST). Oh well, they will be "fair weather friends!

[@Jasonoid]

HQST panels have a great price! Usually you can find them for $0.60 per watt and they perform well in full sun. I'm curious what the difference would be between a Renogy 100w and the HQST 100w.... the specs and sizing are identical but are the cells the same quality?

[@greensavant2573]

@Jasonoid apparently so, rated @25%. Many of HQST products have Renogy packaging, as does Dr Prepare. However, their CS stinks. After my 1st 60A MPPT charge controller worked flawlessly (save foe very weak Bluetooth) I bought a 2nd one, as the 60A model has low temp cutoff on charging below 40F. But, this unit took my 4P 100Ah Power Queen LFPs to 15.7v! I had gotten 5kW from the bank prior, but am down to

[@arksonephimmasane5134]

Great job on explaining and thanking for sharing!

[@Jasonoid]

Glad it was helpful!

[@brushbum7508]

Good Afternoon ! Thank You. TAKE CARE..

[@surfguy777]

Look like good panels. Too bad only 1 yr warranty which causes me to stick with name brand panels.

[@producthype87]

Hi, good day. The shade stopper tech is amazing, but can you compare it to the renogy shadow flux n type panel

[@Jasonoid]

I plan to test the shadowflux panel in the next month or so

[@ericrainey5361]

I have 4 100w panels. Each open circuit is 24.5v(5a) for a total of 98v. My Epever mppt controller supports 100v/30a. The 4 panels in series would be close to the max voltage. Would that be an issue, or will it shorten the life of the controller? Also, which wired array will charge a battery faster? I'm also using a inverter.

[@KatysCampKitchen]

Ordered one... Can't wait to get it!

[@Jasonoid]

Which one did you go with?

[@KatysCampKitchen]

@@Jasonoid The 100 Watt foldable with the blue handles..... I wanted the PD port on it.... For a little project.... :) I used your code... Talked with them on chat - they were very helpful! Thanks for your great review! I think this will work out for us as, we have lots of partly sunny days and shadows from trees to contend with...

[@RobotDecoy2]

Question-would these be consistent enough to power a 12v cooler at tailgates/softball tournaments/Cookouts? Never used panels before great review/information!

[@Jasonoid]

Either of these 100w panels would work great for that!

[@atnfn]

How does shadows from more distant objects affect solar panels? If the object is really close I would guess most sunlight is stopped, but if it's a distant tree or something some reflected sunlight probably hits all of the solar panel anyway.

[@Jasonoid]

All my trees cast shadows that kill power output on a normal panel. Any shade from a normal tree and the power is toast.

[@WECB640]

Impressive!

[@BrandonAbernathy]

You could have kept the area the same by cutting a 6*6 (or whatever)section out of s box and laying that down on the panel. Just for the next panels you test like this.

[@Jasonoid]

Good tip!

[@stuartstuart866]

I bought two of the folding shade stoppers back in February, the price has about doubled since then. The Shade Stoppers won’t help you during overcast days, but are very impressive,as you demonstrated, with sunny skies but partial shade.

[@Jasonoid]

After all the solar panels I have tested, they all seem to perform about the same in overcast conditions, 10% to 20% of their output, sometimes even less if the clouds are really thick. I don't think there is any tech out there that allows for better 'cloudy' performance. The sun is just completely blocked at that point so no power is coming through.

[@stuartstuart866]

@@Jasonoid With all the technological advances we have made, maybe in the future, we will be able to collect significant solar energy even on cloudy days. I wonder if it’s even possible.

[@adriftatlas]

Yeah, I noticed that the reviews say it's $100 for the foldable one. Looked at the archive of their site and indeed they were selling it for half of today's price. Likely need to wait till they drop back down.

[@rcguymike]

​@@stuartstuart866 it's not a technological limitation, it's physics. You can feel the energy change, it's sunny and warm out, you feel comfortable, then a cloud goes over the sun and you feel a chill and need a sweatshirt to stay comfortable. That's pretty much the same energy that solar panels collect. It's called irradiance and you can get a meter to measure it or just look up local weather stations that track that to see how much solar energy is actually making it to the ground.

[@callummacleod8634]

Great video. I've got a 13 foot RV trailer, with a 12 volt fridge that's a bit of an energy hog. I've just ordered the shade stopper folding panel to replace my old, sturdy, dependable, but very heavy GoPower portable panel with aluminum frame. We do a lot of camping in forested sites with intermittent direct sun, and I'm hoping this will squeeze out some more watts, while being smaller and lighter to move around. I've got the tie down stakes you recommended a while back.

[@notacluebbq2500]

Hi. May I ask where I can find some details on your tin can angling trick please? Thank you very much!

[@Jasonoid]

Hold your can on the solar panel and angle the solar panel towards the sun till the can shadow goes away. Once the shadow goes away, you're facing directly at the sun for peak power.

[@notacluebbq2500]

@ Aaah! Brilliant. That’s a great tip! 😃👍🏻 Do you have a preference for can contents? Beans? Tuna? Chili? Or do you find it doesn’t matter 😂🤣😂 Thanks again! 😃👍🏻

[@asificam1]

Do you have any significant cell cracking with these semi-flexible panels? I have been testing some really cheap monocrystalline solar battery maintainers, but they're super flexible and the cells seem to have cracked (shining a light from behind reveals some possible cracks), though according to my limited testing, they seem to work fine. These are not the shade tolerant ones you show here, but they seem to be made from the same stuff around the cells, just my little cheapo battery maintainers lack any bypass diodes.

[@Fl4ppers]

Wish more companies did this on the proper house style of glass panel.

[@Jasonoid]

I agree! I want a glass rigid panel like this!

[@JohnWick-xz9tc]

you didn't say how much the renogy ridged full sun was

[@Jasonoid]

Yep, it was at the beginning, 92 watts.

[@colinp6231]

Would these do well in areas like Seattle where we frequently have cloudy days?

[@1951Roy]

Can you recommend a tester for solar panels that shows watts and amps? Thats not too expensive.

[@Jasonoid]

You can calculate voltage and amperage using this meter: amzn.to/4b2tG7k You can also connect a meter like this: amzn.to/3xiw2kq

[@frankcanha]

I’m confused. I saw a video you did comparing a bunch of solar panels and you shaded all of them pretty heavily. And the shaded panels that still produced power were said to have been wired in parallel and that was the reason given why they still worked. Versus the solar panels that produced no power when shaded were said to have been wired in series. In that video there was no hype about which panels had half-cut cells or had diodes or not. What am I missing?

[@Jasonoid]

These are single panels. When a single normal panel is shaded it loses all power. So if you had multiple shade stopper panels wired in parallel you wouldn't lose any power compared to a normal array. It's different to compare multiple panels wired together vs one panel on its own.

[@frankcanha]

@@Jasonoid Still confused, but oh well. This is the video I’m referring to. How are they different from the ShadeStopper folding one? Seems to me there are two panels. One for each half. The ones in your other video do not have diodes yet some of them still provided power when shaded. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWOsk2WEjdemr9ksi=0YX4E4LGvMnYffa5

[@chingyip371]

great overview ❤

[@MADsailing560]

Can either of the 100 watt panels (folding or non-folding) be stepped on occasionally without it being wrecked? My application is the deck of a 35' sailboat where shading from the rig is ALWAYS a problem so I would like to test it out, but sometimes it has to be stepped on to get to the mast or part of the boom. The glass panel panels with aluminum frames (like the Renogy featured in your video) that I have now are super tough and can take a step on no problem. Thanks.

[@Jasonoid]

I hear that you can step on CIGs panels without damage to the output. I would not recommend stepping on either of these ShadeStopper panels.

[@MADsailing560]

@@Jasonoid The Hobotech guy shot his all up and they still worked! I am guessing you saw that episode! The CIGS are too expensive for my liking. On a sailboat, shade is the enemy (but only for the solar panels)!

[@Jasonoid]

@@MADsailing560 yep, cigs are great for durability haha These panels will get cracks in them if you step on them and it will lower the output.

[@drnv150]

Do you have any idea what the efficiency drop off is if the panels are used in a hot climate like the South West U.S. in summer time at say 115 deg. F ?

[@Jasonoid]

I don't know the exact numbers but panels do produce less power as they heat up. That's so pretty hot temps right there!

[@michaelkempf982]

Question. So if the voltage goes down to the mid 13.? Will that be able to put a charge into my lithium battery thru an mppt charge controller?

[@Jasonoid]

The charge controller should be able to convert the power. The voltage is much higher if there's more sun.

[@JL-st1jf]

Good video!! Very helpful!!

[@joeblow1942]

Does anyone make rigid shade tolerant panels for permanent installations?

[@Jasonoid]

Optivolt makes a glass panel, it's about $300. I have a video on it. I'm hoping shadestopper will make a glass version soon! I'll have to ask them.

[@karronlaneNOLA]

nice. thanks.

[@CMills8674]

Going forward, the only can you can use is that can of Great Value Green beans…gotta keep things consistent! 😂

[@Jasonoid]

I better remember that haha

[@utahiker]

Hi neighbor. I live in West Jordan.

[@Jasonoid]

Yep! You are just a little west of me 😎👍

[@victorjoseph8948]

adblock is a must. invasion of those adds pathetic

[@Jasonoid]

KZbin pushes ads now even if I don't want them on my videos, sorry! 😔

[@ronaldstephens5695]

Nice panels, but priced way too high!!!

[@Jasonoid]

The flex is priced near $100, I feel that's worth the gained shade performance.

[@panagiotisorfanos5246]

❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊